Gearing for washing-machines.



J. H. McELROY.

BEARING FOB WASHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2a. 1916.

1,284,397. PatentedNoV. 12,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. H. McELROY. GEARING FOR WASHING MACMHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28,1916.

Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN HOWARD MOELROY, OF OHiOAGO, ILLINOIS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

Application filed April 28, 1916. Serial 11' a. 94,127.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN HOWARD MoEL- ROY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gearings for Washing-Machines, of which the follow ing is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention is concerned with gearing designed primarily for washing machines 9 either the pounder or vacuum type, in which the agitating element moves vertically, andis designed to produce a gearing that will reciprocate the aforesaid'element vertically and during its downward movement will also rotate it through any desired angle to cause it to advance the clothes somewhat, so that the are engaged at a new point in the next escent.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto two sheets of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures, of which- Figure 1 is a top plan view showing my invention ,as applied to a manually operated washing machine; 1

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail as it would be seen substantially in section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4 5

Fig. 4 is a similar view as seen in sectlon on line 4-4 of Fig.3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail sections still further enlarged on the lines 5-5 and 66 of Fig. 3; and r Fig. 7 is a view similar to Flg. 6, but showlng a difi'erent design for'a vertically reciprocating rod.

Where my invention is applied to a domestic washing machine, the customary tub 10 supportedon the customary legs 11 could be employed, and the entire gearing and mechanism is preferably mounted on the lid or cover 12, which is pivotedto the rigid top portion 13 by the pair of strong hinges 14. "The cover 12 preferably has the top edge, as

seen in Fig. 1, cut off on a secant of a circle to provide for the customary wringer support 15. A strong and durable hasp 16 is pivoted on the edge of the cover, and cooperates with the staple 17 so as to hold that edge of the cover down very securely when the machine is in operation. The

hinged edge of the cover preferably has a flange 18 extending back of the vertical axis of the hinges 14 and beneath the adjacent edge of the stationary portion 13 of the top to take up some of the upward thrust on the lid and prevent its all being applied directly to the hinges "14. The construction thus described resists the upward thrust against the lid which occurs to some extent at the limit of the downward movement of the cups 19, which are preferably three in number and, as seen, are secured in the outer ends of the three arms of the spider 20, which is suitably secured on the lower end of the vertically reciprocatin rod 21.

To apply power to the ham -operated machine, 1 preferably provide the horizontal rock shaft 22, which is journaled in the bearings 23 and 24 formed at the outer ends of the arms 25 and 26 of the bracket casting, which is preferably formed of a single piece. The outer end of the rock shaft 22 has secured thereon the casting 27, which is preferably provided with the socket 28, adapted to receive a handle 29, which is shown as inserted in the socket 30 formed in the castin 31 secured on the other end of the rec shaft, theobject of forming the two sockets 28 and 30 being to permit the handle to be inserted in the socket 30 when the operator wishes to stand up at the work, and to permit it to be inserted in the socket 28, which extends at right angles to the socket 30, whenthe operator desires to sit down and operate the machine. I preferably employ as a part of the complete movement a balance or fly-wheel 32 which is journaled on a bearing stud 33 extending horizontally from the arm 34 of the casting, and having the spur gear pinion 35 formed on or rigidly secured to the hub of the fly-wheel. A

bearing arm 36'has journaled thereon the spur gear'wheel 37, meshing with the spur gear pinion 35 and provided with the eccentric pin 38 which is connected by the link 39 with the pin 40 secured on the crank arm 41 forming a part of the casting 27. With the construction thus shown and described, it will be obvious that as the shaft 22 is rocked, the fiy-wheel 32 will be speeded up to carry the gearing smoothly over the reversing point. It will also be noted that the fly-wheel which constitutes the heaviest portion of the gearing is journaledback nearly in the vertical plane of the hin cs 14, so that when the lid is opened by 1i ing itat the hasp 16, the leverage of the lid is employed to lift the fly-wheel through the short are through which it is swung.

The casting. 31 also has rigidly securedthereto or formed integral therewith the arm 42 of a bell crank lever, the other arm of which is formed by the handle 29. The outer end of the arm 42 is forked, as seen at 43, and has pivotally connected thereto, preferably in the manner shown in Fig. 4, the pair of short links 44, which are pivoted at their lower ends on the studs 45 projecting outward from the casting or block 46, which preferably has associated therewith the guide rod 47 which is secured in the topthereof and may have the straight spline groove 48 therein coiiperatlng wlth a projection 49 extending into the groove from the top 50 of the yoke portion 51 of the bracket casting, which top, of course, has the circular aperture therein through whlch the guide rod 47 reciprocates. Secured on the under side of the piece 46 is the cup 52,

which has the aperture in the bottom through which passes the previously mentioned rod 21, the upper end of which has formed integrally therewith orv rlgidly secured thereon the disk 53, which is provided with suitable one-way clutch connectlons with the top 52 in which it is adapted to rotate in one direction only. For these clutch connections I preferably employ the notch 54 formed in the edge of the disk 53 and the ball or roller 55, cooperating therewith in the customary. manner, sothat the dlsk is free to turn in the cup in a clockwise manner, but cannot turn therein anti-clockwise. Directly beneath the cup 52, when the parts are in their lowermost position shown in Fig. 4, is an inverted cup 56, which is rigidly secured on the top of the bearing sleeve 57 secured in and assing through the lid 12. In the cup 56 and resting on the top of the sleeve 52 is a disk 58, which is preferably of the same dimensions and general character as the disk 53, except that it is connected by a spline, such as the lug 59, wlth the cups 19 are 'rotatedthrough, say, thirty to sixty degrees during their downward movement. The disk 58 has the recess 61 therein, corresponding to the recess 54 in the disk .53, but faced in the opposite direction, so

that the ball or friction roller 62 servesto hold the rod 21 through its engagement w th the disk 58 from rotating backward during the ascending movement of the rod 21. In-

stead of the round rod 21 having thesplined groove therein, I might employ a rod 21., as shown in Fig. 7, which is flattened and 00- operates with an' aperture in the dlsk 58" which aperture is of the same design as the cross section of the bar 21, which in that case will be twisted as much as is necessary to give it the desired rotation during its downward movement.

The mode of operation of the complete machine will be readily apparent, as the machine will be filled with suds and the rethrough the detent mechanism shown in Figs. 5 and 6. If it is desired to give the cups 19 an increased circular movement during the latter portion of the downward movement, so as to thereby rub the clothes over the bottom of the tub, it will be obvious that the design of the spline 60 or the twist given to the bar 21 may be changed to secure the desired results.

While I have shown and described my invention in the form which I at present con sider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modifications, and that I do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims, except as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: i 1 1. In a device of the classy described, the combination with a support, of a lever journaled thereon, a member mounted to slide and turn in the support, and connections between the lever and member whereby the latter, is reciprocated lengthwise as the lever is swung and also caused to rotate in one direction only as it moves lengthwise in one direction and is locked from rotation as it moves in the other.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a support, of a lever journaled thereon, a member mounted to slide and turnin the support, connections between the lever and member whereby the latter is reciprocated lengthwise as the lever is swung and also caused to rotate in one direction only as it moves lengthwise in one direction and is locked from rotatlon as it moves in the other, a fly-wheel journaled on the support,

and speeding up gearing connections between the fly-wheel and lever whereby as the lrcelyl er is swung the fly-wheel is rotated rap- 1 y.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination,with a support, of a detent member mounted to rotate in said support, means to prevent its backward rotation, a rod sliding through said member and having a helical formation coiiperating therewith, a reciprocating actuating member in which the upper end of the rod is mounted to rotate, and means to prevent the rotation of the rod in the actuating member in the direction the detent member rotates.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a support, of a disk mounted to rotate in said support having a notch in one edge thereof, a casing in which the disk rotates, a ball in the notch and cooperating with the inner wall of the casing, a rod sliding through the disk and having a helical formation cooperating therewith, a reciprocating actuating member in which the upper end of the rod is mounted to rotate, a disk secured on theupper end of the rod and having a notch therein, and rotating in a bearing in said reciprocating actuating member, and a ball in the notch of the disk of the upper end of the rod, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a cover, of a bearing in the center thereof, an element mounted to reciprocate vertically in the bearing, and to turn on its axis as it moves vertically in one direction only, means to lock it against rotation in the opposite direction, a lever fulcrumed on one side of the cover, connections between the lever and element so that the swinging of the lever reciprocates the element vertically, a fly-wheel ournaled on the side of the cover, a gear pinion on its hub, a gear wheel meshing with the pinion also journaled on the side of the cover, and connections from the lever to the gear wheel to rotate the latter as the lever is swung.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a cover, of a bearing in the center thereof, an element mounted to reciprocate vertically in the bearing, and to turn on its axis as it moves vertically in one direction only, means to lock it against rotation in the opposite direction, a lever fulcrumed on one side of the cover, connections between the lever and element so that the swinging of the lever reciprocates the element vertically, a fly-wheel'journaled on the side of the cover, a gear pinion on its hub, a gear wheel meshing with the pinion also Qu'rnaled on the side of the cover, a rock shaft extending parallel with the hinges of the cover on which the lever is secured, a crank arm on the outer end of the rock shaft, an eccentric pin on the crank arm, and a pitman connecting the crank arm and an eccentric pin on the gear wheel In witness whereof I- have hereunto set my 'hand and aflixed my seal this 18th day of April, A. D. 1916.

JOHN HOWARD MeELROY. [1,. 9. 

